Epidemics, planning and the city: a special issue of planning perspectives

This paper is an editorial for a special issue of the same title, guest-edited for Planning Perspectives by the author between 2020 and 2022. It was initiated at a time of speculation regarding how cities would need to adapt in order to mitigate the risks of Covid-19. The goal of the special issue was to gather historical research on how cities have confronted epidemics / pandemics in the past, including how epidemic outbreaks have catalysed urban transformation, how planners have constructed the challenge of infectious diseases and developed visions, processes and strategies to contain, isolate and treat them. The arising papers showcase many different times, places and cultural contexts, and also a panoply of different epidemics which cities through history have not only had to adjust to but also been changed by